A St. Louis County judge has upheld the murder conviction of Marcellus Williams, a decision that paves the way for his execution on September 24. The ruling comes after a deal between Williams and the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office that would have spared his life. The deal was based on the discovery that prosecutors had failed to properly preserve the murder weapon used in the crime. However, lawyers representing Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued against the deal, leading to an evidentiary hearing instead.
During the hearing, it was revealed that the prosecutor who handled the murder weapon had contaminated it by not wearing gloves. The defense argued that this violated Williams’s rights, but the judge ruled that the prosecutor had not acted in bad faith and was following normal procedures at the time. Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, emphasized the significance of the prosecutor seeking to vacate Williams’s conviction, stating that it is not done lightly.
Keith Larner, a retired former prosecutor who handled Williams’s case, testified during the hearing that he had handled the murder weapon without gloves before the trial. He believed that the testing was complete and that there was nothing to link anyone to the crime on the knife. Williams has maintained his innocence throughout the case, and no crime scene evidence directly linked him to the murder. He had requested DNA testing on the knife before the trial, but it was denied. However, DNA testing done in 2016 revealed unknown genetic material on the knife’s handle.
Based on the unidentified DNA, the prosecutor filed a motion to vacate Williams’s conviction, but further testing revealed that the prosecution team’s handling of the knife had irrevocably lost any potential crime scene DNA. Despite this setback, a deal was struck between Williams and the prosecutor’s office, which would have taken the death penalty off the table in exchange for a life sentence. However, the attorney general’s office appealed to the state’s high court, leading to the scheduling of the evidentiary hearing.
In his ruling, the judge concluded that the prosecutor’s actions were not intentional and therefore did not violate Williams’s rights. The handling of the knife was deemed part of the prosecution’s normal practices. The judge also rejected other claims made by Williams and the prosecutor, including allegations of ineffective representation and racial bias in jury selection. The attorney general’s office has not yet released a statement regarding the ruling.
Williams’s legal team plans to continue seeking relief through the courts and Governor Mike Parsons, who has the power to grant clemency. They are determined to prevent the wrongful execution of an innocent person.
